Baker must force Dems to defend Patrick record

You probably won't find a more qualified or prepared candidate to be governor of Massachusetts than Charlie Baker, but that does not mean that he can get elected, not by a long shot.

Despite his government credentials (two cabinet posts, under two governors) and his business and Pilgrim Health Care experience, he is a workhorse attempting to succeed a show horse -- the show horse that beat him four years ago.

This time, though, Gov. Deval Patrick, and his flash-bang rhetoric ("Yes, we can!") will not be around. So Baker has a shot.

Still, Baker is a Republican in a sea of liberal Democratic and independent voters, and any political gains he needs to make have to be among those two groups. Without these inroads, he's toast.

If this were not difficult enough, Baker, a moderate on most issues, has to avoid being torn apart by conservatives in his party. He got off to a good start Saturday, when he won the GOP convention endorsement and thwarted tea-party candidate Mark Fisher from narrowly winning a place on the primary ballot.

This means Baker will run uncontested in the September primary while the Democrats are expected to have at least two or more candidates battling it out in the September primary, even after the party's June nominating convention.

This gives Baker months in which he is free to bring his message to the voters while the five Democrats running will be campaigning against one another.

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But nothing comes easy for the GOP. Baker on Saturday had to deal with the fallout of the convention defection of Richard Tisei, who is seeking for the second time to oust longtime Democrat U.S. Rep. John Tierney in the hotly contested 6th Congressional District.

Tisei, who was Baker's lieutenant-governor running mate four years ago, did not do Baker any favors when he loudly boycotted the convention that endorsed Baker for governor once again. Tisei, who is gay and married, objected to the party's stance on gay marriage and abortion. The GOP party platform frowns on both, while Baker supports both gay marriage and abortion rights.

While Baker may believe that the Republican Party represents "a big tent" that can accommodate everyone, there are some, like Tisei, who do not even want to be in the tent.

And then there are the media. While Baker did indeed win the party endorsement for governor, hardly anyone noticed. Television news Saturday evening covered the event as though it were a party convention in Bosnia instead of Boston. The story did not even make Page 1 of The Boston Sunday Globe.

It is strange because Baker can win this thing. To do so, though, he has to force the Democrats to defend Patrick's tarnished legacy, and to point out how he, with his deep government experience, can right the wrongs that Patrick is leaving behind.

These wrongs begin with Patrick's limited managerial experience and nonchalance in dealing with the workings of a huge state government. Patrick had no experience in running anything, but was elected because of his charm, charisma, speaking ability and the fact that he is African-American -- the first African-American to be elected governor. Unlike other novice governors, however, Patrick did not seem to grow with the job.

His legacy is marred by his lack of executive ability that brought about the Hinton drug-lab scandal that has led to hundreds of overturned drug convictions, the horror show at the Department of Children and Families that lost track of 5-year- old Jeremiah Oliver, who is now presumed dead, the EBT welfare-card scandal, the $68 million contract for a dysfunctional online health website, and on and on.

Massachusetts does not need another showboat in the Corner Office, or a governor who travels the country and the world, writes and sells books on the side, uses the job to get another, and then hopes to run for president.

No, the state needs a governor who will be governor. Massachusetts needs a leader who knows state government and who will show up for work five days a week, just like most people. It needs a governor who knows who runs the state agencies and what the agencies do. It needs a governor who wants to be informed about problems so that he can solve them, not hide them. It needs a hands-on person committed to be governor, and not committed to something else.

It needs someone who needs no on-the-job training but can start work on day one. Call me if you find the guy.

Peter Lucas' political column appears Tuesday and Friday. Email him at luke1825@aol.com.

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